99 F.

3d 108
153 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2740, 132 Lab.Cas. P 11,690

Guy A. MATTESON, III; Timothy L. Bell; Thomas Gati; Brent

E. Rozell; Lenworth Brown; Barris A. Cameron; Craig
Canady, Sr.; Michael Clayton; William Colon; Joseph
Courter; Michael Cruz; Willie Davis, Jr.; Earl W. Dawson;
Charles W. Dudley; Mordechai Epstein; Robert E. Fedak;
Joseph DeGuida; Joseph E. Henry; Vaughn L. Huron; Donald
Ingram; Levern Jeffery; Robert W. Lee, Sr.; Frederick
Madden; Donald Manning; Thomas Patrick McGeehan; Jerry
R.
McIntosh; John K. Mosley; Hugh K. Mullin; William C.
Nixon; Anthony Osborne; Mark Ostrofsky; Robert H.
Petersen; Willy P. Rojas; Domingos Santos; Gary W.
Sexton; Jay W. Sharrer; Prince A. Snowden; Matthew
Sowinski; Patrick A. Ventura; Carl E. Wiggins; Lance A.
McLee; Ronald Nunziante; Richard Ruff; Christopher
Stowers; Daniel A. Sebia; Local Union No. 917 of the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Local Union No. 560
of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Lester
Smith, Appellants,
v.
RYDER SYSTEM INC.; F.J. Boutell Driveway Co.; M & G
Convoy
Inc.; Commercial Carriers, Inc.
No. 95-5821.

United States Court of Appeals,

Third Circuit.
Argued June 5, 1996.
Decided Oct. 28, 1996.

James A. Scarpone (argued), Richard B. Honis, Robert S. Raymar, Brian

D. Winters, Hellring, Lindeman, Goldstein & Siegal, Newark, NJ, for

Appellants.
Irving L. Hurwitz (argued), Vimal K. Shah, Carpenter, Bennett &
Morrissey, Newark, NJ, for Appellees.
Before: BECKER, MANSMANN, Circuit Judges, and SCHWARZER,*
District Judge.
OPINION OF THE COURT
BECKER, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from an order of the district court granting summary judgment
for defendant trucking companies in an action by plaintiff owner-operators
seeking to set aside a labor arbitration award. Jurisdiction arises under 301 of
the Labor Management Relations Act. 29 U.S.C. 185. The appeal presents the
question whether the arbitrators acted within the authority conferred upon them
by the parties' agreement, or rather decided issues beyond the parties'
submissions. Concluding that the arbitrators exceeded their authority, we
reverse.

I. Facts and Procedural History

2

Plaintiffs are 46 truck drivers and two local chapters of their union, Local 560
and Local 917 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Defendants
Ryder Systems, Inc. and related companies ("Ryder" or "company") are
engaged in the commercial carriage of automobiles. Plaintiffs use their own
tractors to pull defendants' trailers, delivering cars and light trucks out of
Ryder's terminal in Northern New Jersey to new car dealers throughout New
England, the Middle Atlantic States, and parts of the Midwest.

At all relevant times, the parties were subject to a collective bargaining

agreement known as The National Master Automobile Transporters Agreement
("Master Agreement"). From June 1, 1991, when the Master Agreement went
into effect, until August 16, 1994, when the arbitration award that is the subject
of this appeal was rendered, the drivers' compensation was governed by the
Master Agreement and related leases by which the drivers dedicated their
tractors exclusively to Ryder's business. Payment to the drivers was based on a
percentage of the gross revenue paid to Ryder by the shippers. Despite the fact
that the Master Agreement provides that no negotiated agreement between an
employer and its drivers shall entitle the drivers to payment of any amount less

than 65% of the gross revenues the employer receives from a shipper, the lease
agreements provide that drivers receive 60% or 61% depending on the number
of vehicles shipped. It was the lease agreements that determined the drivers'
share. The agreement (and practice under the lease) further makes clear that the
drivers were to be reimbursed for the full amount of all tolls they actually paid.
4

The Master Agreement and the related leases also included a "toll schedule,"
which (very roughly) represented an average of the tolls that would be incurred
on a trip from Ryder's terminal to certain broadly defined geographical areas
encompassing entire states or groups of states. Prior to calculating the driver's
share, Ryder would deduct from the gross revenue the amount specified by the
toll schedule for the particular trip.1 At some point, Ryder unilaterally (and in
the drivers' submission, arbitrarily) increased this toll schedule, retroactive to
April 1992. In so doing, Ryder decreased the base (gross revenue) from which
the drivers' share was calculated, thereby decreasing payments to the drivers.
Ryder's actions precipitated the dispute that is now before us.

In addition to concern over changes in the toll schedule, a number of drivers

discovered instances in which Ryder paid them 60% of the gross revenue when,
in their opinion, they were entitled to 61%. Those drivers invoked the grievance
machinery of the Master Agreement.2 In the initial grievance (the "Matteson
grievance"), they complained that Ryder's actions with respect to the toll
schedule and the gross revenue share calculations had violated "Addendum 'C'
" and "Exhibit 'B' " of the lease agreements.3 Addendum C of the lease
agreements establishes the toll schedule for trips originating from the Port
Jersey terminal; Exhibit B assigns the threshold number of cars a driver must
transport to receive 61% rather than 60% of the company's gross revenue.

When members of Local 560 learned that they were also being charged
increases in the toll schedule and that the increases were effective retroactively
to April 1992, their shop steward, Fred Worth, submitted a "class action"
grievance on behalf of the drivers (the "560 grievance"). The written grievance
identified the subject matter in the following language:

7"TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

I8 FIND THE COMPANY IN VIOLATION OF ARTICAL [sic] # 49 OF THE
MASTER AGREMENT [sic]. I ASK FOR ALL MONIES TO BE RETURN [sic]
TO DRIVERS AFECTED [sic] AND A CEASE AND DESIST.
9SECTION 4 A, C SECTION 5 TOLLS"

10

Article 49 of the Master Agreement, entitled "Owner-Operator," covers a broad

range of issues including, but by no means limited to, toll charges and revenue
shares. Section 4(a) of Article 49 deals with the revenue share for the driver
and requires that the drivers receive no less than 65% of the gross revenue.
Section 4(c) of Article 49 ensures that any increases in the payments Ryder
receives will be reflected in the drivers' receipts, and briefly mentions tolls.
Finally, Section 5 delineates the payment responsibilities as between the drivers
and Ryder, including the responsibilities for "turnpike fees, road tolls and
bridge tolls." Larry Ervin, Ryder's Director of Labor Relations, has
acknowledged (in his October 31, 1994 Affidavit) that "[r]epresentatives of
Locals 560 and 917 advised me that this grievance protested the changes the
April 1992 ancillary schedule made to the February 1991 schedule."

11

The Local 560 grievance together with the Matteson grievance were heard
before the Joint Committee. See supra note 2. On a pre-hearing information
form, used by the Joint Committee "as a preliminary general statement of [the
parties'] position[s]," Daniel Coughlin, a union representative, set forth the
basis for the unions' grievance before the Joint Committee. Under the section
entitled "Circumstances of the Dispute," Coughlin typed "XXX" on the
appropriate line to indicate a "Back Pay Claim" and typed "TOLLS" on the line
to indicate "Others." He also noted that the relevant sections of the Master
Agreement about which he was concerned were "ARTICLE 49, SECTION 4A,
4C SECTION 5, ARTICLE 49, SECTION 14." Section 14 of Article 49 states
that no lease entered into pursuant to the Master Agreement may conflict with
the Master Agreement.

12

In an additional, undated submission to the Joint Committee, Coughlin

attempted to explain more clearly the grievance he was pursuing. He wrote
almost exclusively about the toll increases, noting that each lease agreement
had a toll schedule and that "[t]he toll charges have been raised dramatically by
the Company and they raised these charges with no explanation or
substantiating paper work reflecting why the charges are raised." In a further,
also undated submission, Coughlin quoted from the Master Agreement the
provisions on which the unions' grievance is based. He cited the same
provisions as those cited on the pre-hearing information form.

13

The minutes of the hearing itself, though unfortunately not transcriptions,

further inform the reasons for the grievance. Coughlin began the argument over
the merits of the grievance by discussing the increases in the toll schedules. He
went on to object to the "entire structure." (No explanation is provided as to
what that phrase refers.) Local 917 joined in protest of the manner in which

Ryder was charging the unions for tolls. In response, Ervin referred to the
documents submitted by the unions and claimed that those same documents
allowed Ryder to implement increases in the toll structure.
14

Without deciding the matter, the Joint Committee referred the grievance back
to the parties for negotiations to be completed within sixty days. When the
parties could not reach an agreement, the unions requested, by letter, that the
Joint Committee re-hear the case. In the letter, Coughlin again importuned the
Joint Committee to hold the increase in the toll schedule to be in violation of the
Master Agreement. Coughlin also maintained that the original toll charge,
presumably the toll schedule itself, was in violation of the Master Agreement.

15

The Joint Committee re-heard the grievance. Al Valle, on behalf of Local 560,
reported to the Joint Committee that "[i]t is the position of the locals that the
Company illegally raised the toll tariffs and requests that they be rescinded and
to be made whole for all increases made at the time it was initiated." Jack Shea,
on behalf of Local 917 "agreed that this was the position of both locals."
Finally, Ervin, on behalf of Ryder, began by noting that the original grievance
included complaints about the percentage of gross revenue to which the drivers
were entitled. Through discussions, however, the parties narrowed the issue to
the toll increases. Ervin went on to state, inter alia,

What is at issue is the increase in the tolls hold back which was instituted in 1992.
16
17

and,

18 the grievance indicates that the only issue is that the leases remain the same.
Now
There is no protest regarding the percentage; that all they want to do is protest the
toll increase that was implemented in 1992. That is the current case.
19

At the close of the hearing, the case was referred to a subcommittee comprised
of one union representative and one management representative. Prior to the
referral, the Joint Committee instructed the parties to provide the subcommittee
with the previous toll schedule; the toll schedule in dispute; any and all
documents justifying the toll schedule increase; and, a description of what is
contained in the toll schedule. Based upon the report of the subcommittee, the
full Committee made the following decision:

20

1. All owner operators will receive 65% of the revenue received by the
Company beginning July 18, 1994.

21

2. An ancillary charge of $13.35, which has been justified, will be charged on

21

2. An ancillary charge of $13.35, which has been justified, will be charged on

both the headhaul and backhaul. 4

22

3. The Company will convert to a single factor tariff concept, with drivers
paying their own tolls with no Company reimbursement. This will eliminate the
Company's toll holdback system.

23

4. The Company is directed to pay the difference between the two (2) toll
schedules in question for all owner operators party to this grievance beginning
April 1, 1994.

24

5. This decision resolves all outstanding grievances on all related issues.

25

6. The Committee finds that because the Company failed to respond in a timely
manner to the wage reviews filed by grievants Matteson, Gati and Rozell, these
claims are upheld for the full amounts claimed, consistent with Article 7.

26

7. This settlement should set no precedent for any other cases.

27

The drivers responded to the Joint Committee's ruling by filing a complaint in

the District Court for the District of New Jersey. The relevant count in the
complaint for present purposes is Count I, which contended that the arbitration
award should be vacated because the arbitrators went beyond the scope of the
submissions to reach their conclusion and the ultimate award, on its merits, did
not draw its essence from the collective bargaining agreement.5 Of particular
concern to the drivers was the imposition of the ancillary charges from
Paragraph 2 of the award. The drivers moved for summary judgment as to
Count I; Ryder responded with a cross motion for summary judgment.

28

The district court granted Ryder's motion. It began its discussion by noting the
extreme deference a court is to afford an arbitrator's decision, including the
interpretation of the scope of the arbitrator's own power under the collective
bargaining agreement and/or the parties' submissions. Quoting United
Transportation Union Local 1589 v. Suburban Transit Corp., 51 F.3d 376 (3d
Cir.1995), the court stated that " 'there must be absolutely no support at all in
the record justifying the arbitrator's determinations for a court to deny
enforcement of an award.' " Id. at 379 (quoting News America Publications,
Inc. v. Newark Typographical Union, Local 103, 918 F.2d 21, 24 (3d
Cir.1990)). The court then went on to examine the submissions to the arbitrator
and concluded that the submissions covered a range of issues including, but by
no means limited solely to, the toll schedule. Therefore, it reasoned, the
submission supported the Joint Committee's interpretation of the scope of its

power.
29

The district court next examined the arbitration award itself to determine if it "
[drew] its essence from the collective bargaining agreement." United
Steelworkers of America v. Enterprise Wheel and Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593,
597, 80 S.Ct. 1358, 1361, 4 L.Ed.2d 1424 (1960). Relying again on the
forgiving standard of review as set forth in Suburban Transit, the court
concluded that the arbitration award represented an arguably reasonable
interpretation of the Master Agreement. It therefore held that the decision of the
Joint Committee as to the merits of the grievance should not be disturbed.

II. Standard of Review

30

Because we review a district court decision that itself reviewed an arbitration

award subject to a particular standard, it is fitting to elaborate just a bit on our
usually brief statement concerning the correct standard of review. In Mobil Oil
Corp. v. Independent Oil Workers Union, 679 F.2d 299 (3d Cir.1982), we
stated that the standard for reviewing an arbitrator's interpretation of the
collective bargaining agreement should be the same as that for reviewing an
arbitrator's interpretation of the issue submitted. See id. at 302. In Exxon
Shipping Co. v. Exxon Seamen's Union, 73 F.3d 1287 (3d Cir.), cert. denied
sub nom. Seariver Maritime, Inc. v. Exxon Seamen's Union, --- U.S. ----, 116
S.Ct. 2515, 135 L.Ed.2d 203 (1996), we noted that we apply the same standard
in reviewing the district court's decision as that court did in reviewing the
arbitrator's interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement. See id. at
1291. Therefore, our review of the validity of the arbitration award must be
subject to the same standard as that which governed the district court's review.

31

Under the Federal Arbitration Act, a district court may vacate an arbitration
award if, inter alia, "the arbitrators exceeded their powers, or so imperfectly
executed them that a mutual, final, and definite award upon the subject matter
submitted was not made." 9 U.S.C. 10(a)(4). In other words, an arbitrator may
not venture beyond the bounds of his or her authority. See United Steelworkers,
363 U.S. at 597-98, 80 S.Ct. at 1361-62. As is often the case, the authority of
the arbitrator is defined not simply by the collective bargaining agreement, but
is determined in large measure by the parties' submissions. See, e.g., Sun Ship,
Inc. v. Matson Navigation Co., 785 F.2d 59, 62 (3d Cir.1986). In such cases,
then, it follows that an arbitrator has the authority to decide only the issues
actually submitted. See United Parcel Serv., Inc. v. International Brotherhood
of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Local
Union No. 430, 55 F.3d 138, 142 (3d Cir.1995) ("[A]n [arbitration] award will,
of course, be enforceable only to the extent it does not exceed the scope of the

parties' submission."); see also United Steelworkers, 363 U.S. at 598, 80 S.Ct.
at 1361 (upholding an arbitration award but implying that were the award
"beyond the submission" it would have been vacated). It is the responsibility of
the arbitrator in the first instance to interpret the scope of the parties'
submission, but it is within the courts' province to review an arbitrator's
interpretation. See, e.g., Mobil Oil, 679 F.2d at 302.
32

We must now determine the appropriate standard for our review of that
interpretation. We are not writing here on a blank slate. In Mobil Oil, we wrote
that "the deference that is accorded to an arbitrator's interpretation of the
collective bargaining agreement should also be accorded to an arbitrator's
interpretation of the issue submitted." 679 F.2d at 302. We provided three
reasons for such deference, which results in "singularly undemanding" judicial
review. United Transp. Union, 51 F.3d at 379 (quoting News America, 918
F.2d at 24). First, a more searching judicial review of submissions to an
arbitrator would undermine the congressional policy of promoting speedy,
efficient, and inexpensive resolution of labor grievances. See Mobil Oil, 679
F.2d at 302. Second, interpretation of a submission must often occur in the
context of the collective bargaining agreement itself. Therefore, it would be
inconsistent to accord deference to the interpretation of the collective
bargaining agreement but not to the submission. See id. Finally, requiring
courts to engage in a close examination of the submissions to arbitrators would
put a considerable strain on judicial resources. See id.

33

Given the language employed to describe the standard for reviewing an award
on the merits, there is no doubt that our review of the interpretation of a
submission is highly deferential. See, e.g., News America, 918 F.2d at 24 ("
[T]here must be absolutely no support at all in the record justifying the
arbitrator's determinations for a court to deny enforcement of an award.")
(emphasis added); Ludwig Honold Mfg. v. Fletcher, 405 F.2d 1123, 1128 (3d
Cir.1969) (upholding an arbitrator's award so long as its "interpretation can in
any rational way be derived from the [collective bargaining] agreement")
(emphasis added).6

34

Effusively deferential language notwithstanding, the courts are neither entitled

nor encouraged simply to "rubber stamp" the interpretations and decisions of
arbitrators. See, e.g., Leed Architectural Prods., Inc. v. United Steelworkers of
America, Local 6674, 916 F.2d 63, 65 (2d Cir.1990) ("This great deference,
however, is not the equivalent of a grant of limitless power."). Courts still
maintain a significant role in the labor arbitration process; they have not been
relegated to the status of merely offering post-hoc sanction for the actions of
arbitrators. Rare though they may be, there will be instances when it is

appropriate for a court to vacate the decision of an arbitrator. This is one of

them.
III. Did the Arbitrators Exceed Their Authority?
35
36

We turn to the ultimate decision of the Joint Committee to determine if it went

beyond the scope of the authority conferred upon it by the parties.7 As we have
noted, an arbitrator has the authority to decide only the issues actually
submitted. See, e.g., United Parcel Serv., 55 F.3d at 142. We are hampered in
the effort to define the issues submitted by the failure of the parties in this case
to prepare a single document containing the issues they wished to submit to the
Joint Committee. Instead, we are confronted with a tangle of documents,
penned over a two-year time period, no single one of which is dispositive and
many of which are hand written, incomplete, and obviously drafted without
expert assistance.

37

The obvious first step is to prescribe the relevant time frame. Must we consider
all of the documents during the entire two years of the dispute, or should we
study only those documents generated at or near the time of the final hearing?
Precedent sheds little light on this question, because in the usual arbitration the
parties formulate a single, controlling submission. See, e.g., Sun Ship, 785 F.2d
at 62. Reasoning from the general principles set forth in that precedent, we can,
however, answer the question.

38

"[A]rbitration is a creature of contract." United Steelworkers of America v.

American Mfg., 363 U.S. 564, 570, 80 S.Ct. 1363, 1364, 4 L.Ed.2d 1432
(1960) (Brennan, J., concurring). Though spoken in the context of interpreting
the collective bargaining agreement, Justice Brennan's simple description aptly
frames our inquiry. As in contract law, the touchstone for interpreting a
submission must be the intention of the parties. See Local 1199, Drug Hospital
and Health Care Employees Union, RWDSU, AFL-CIO v. Brooks Drug Co.,
956 F.2d 22, 25 (2d Cir.1992). It is the parties, not the arbitrator, who decide
the issues submitted; absent a formal, written submission, we must look to the
parties' conduct as a whole. See International Chemical Workers Union, Local
No. 566 v. Mobay Chemical Corp., 755 F.2d 1107, 1110 (4th Cir.1985). To
determine the intent of the parties given the circumstances in this case, then,
we cannot limit ourselves simply to one or a few documents. Nor can we rely
on isolated statements within those documents. Rather, we must examine the
documents with an eye towards arranging each of them to create a complete
picture.

39

When we examine the entire history of the grievance in this case, it becomes

patent that the issue the parties ultimately agreed to submit to the Joint
Committee was the increase in the toll schedule. The drivers did draft
documents and made statements that, if taken out of context, could be construed
as referring to issues beyond the toll schedule, especially in the early stages of
the dispute. Some documents referred to the percentage of gross revenue due
the drivers; more documents referenced provisions of the Master Agreement
that governed issues well beyond toll payments. As the dispute progressed,
however, the drivers ceased to mention the gross revenue percentages. And, the
referenced provisions in the Master Agreement, though often governing a wide
range of issues, invariably included references to toll payments.
40

The only consistent theme running through all the early documents and
statements is the increase in the toll schedule. As the dispute progressed further,
it became ever more plain that the parties focused their dispute on the increase
in the toll schedule. By the time of the last hearing before the Joint Committee,
it was the toll schedule, and nothing more, over which the parties argued. The
clearest statement of the dispute, in fact, comes from Ervin, the Ryder
representative, who reported to the Joint Committee that "all [the drivers] want
to do is protest the toll increase."

41

The drivers maintain that the request of the Joint Committee to have the parties
provide information about the toll schedule is important. We agree that the
request is important, but, as the district court stated, it is not dispositive. But the
fact that the Joint Committee requested only information about the toll
schedules suggests that, at the time of the final hearing, the Joint Committee
believed that the only issue the parties wished to submit to it was the toll
schedule. The request is, in other words, support for our conclusion that the
intent of the parties was to arbitrate only the increase in the toll schedule.

42

Ryder and the district court emphasize isolated statements and documents
without contextualizing them.8 As we have explained above, such a narrow
focus is inappropriate in this case. Ryder and the district court attach too great
significance to documents drafted early in the dispute that contain references to
the percentage of gross revenues due the drivers. Similarly, both Ryder and the
district court devote much attention to references to provisions in the Master
Agreement that discuss issues beyond the toll schedules. Such attention is
especially misplaced when other language in those documents makes clear that
what the drivers were concerned about was the tolls.

43

For example, both Ryder and the district court point to a letter Coughlin, a
union representative, wrote that quotes from the Master Agreement. In that
same letter, however, he wrote almost exclusively about the toll schedules.

Additionally, both Ryder and the district court correctly point out that in the
minutes before the Joint Committee Coughlin "not only protests the raise, but
the entire structure." However, the surrounding language in the minutes, which
referred only to the toll schedule, makes it obvious that this reference to "the
entire structure" is not a reference to the entire compensation scheme.
44

Finally, Ryder observes that, when Ervin stated that the only matter before the
Joint Committee was the increase in the toll schedule, Coughlin did not agree,
but rather raised a point of order. Ryder claims that if the drivers truly did wish
to arbitrate only the increase in the toll schedule their representative would have
said as much at this point in the proceedings. However, just as significantly,
Coughlin did not object to Mr. Ervin's characterization of the dispute.
Moreover, the point of order appears directed not at the characterization but at
the argument Ervin proceeded to make about the merits of the dispute.

IV. Conclusion
45

Because the Joint Committee exceeded its authority as arbitrator by deciding

issues not submitted to it by the drivers and Ryder, we will reverse the order of
the district court and remand the case with instructions to vacate the entire
arbitration award pursuant to 9 U.S.C. 10(a)(4). It is unnecessary to reach the
merits of the arbitration award and we do not make a determination as to
whether the award drew its essence from the collective bargaining agreement.

Honorable William W Schwarzer, United States District Judge for the Northern
District of California, sitting by designation

The toll schedule is a crude means of avoiding double counting toll

reimbursements. Apparently, Ryder and the drivers work from the assumption
that, included in the amount Ryder receives from the shippers--the gross
revenue--is the cost of the tolls. If Ryder did not account for this portion of
gross revenue, both Ryder (by way of reimbursements for actual toll costs) and
the shippers (by way of the percentage of gross revenue accruing to the drivers)
would each reimburse the drivers for the cost of the same tolls

The formal grievance was preceded by certain "wage reviews," which Ryder
ignored and which the Eastern Conference Area Automobile Transporters Joint
Arbitration Committee ("Joint Committee"), comprised of three Management
and three Union representatives, summarily disposed of

Although it may appear cumbersome, close examination of the numerous

submissions the drivers and the unions made during the entire grievance
procedure is necessary, for resolution of this dispute turns on a factual
determination of what exactly the parties intended for the arbitrators to decide
4

Ancillary charges are distinct from toll charges

The drivers alleged, in Counts II and III, that Ryder had violated the Lease
Agreements by assessing toll charges in excess of those set out in the addenda
to the agreements and that Ryder misrepresented to the drivers the total tariff
proceeds Ryder received from its shippers. The district court granted Ryder's
motion for summary judgment on Counts II and III, reasoning that the Master
Agreement requires the drivers to exhaust internal grievance procedures prior to
instituting court action. The drivers do not appeal this aspect of the district
court's ruling

The drivers argue that a different level of deference is due an arbitrator who is
making a factual determination as to what the parties actually submitted to
arbitration rather than an interpretation of the language of the submission. This
is because labor and management bargained for the arbitrator's expertise
concerning interpretative issues but not factual ones. Underlying the argument
is a fear that too much power now rests with arbitrators. If arbitrators are given
great deference as to the scope of their powers under a submission, then not
only will arbitrators have virtually unreviewable authority over the
interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement but they will also have
such authority over the very limits of their power. That fear notwithstanding,
the drivers can find no support in Third Circuit jurisprudence for making their
distinction. Instead, they cite to cases outside our circuit that, unfortunately,
bear little relevance to the present dispute and offer only minimal support for
their argument. In Butterkrust Bakeries v. Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco
Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, Local No. 361, 726 F.2d 698 (11th
Cir.1984), for example, the court clearly stated that significant deference is due
an arbitrator. That the court in Butterkrust Bakeries vacated the arbitration
award does not mean that a different level of deference was applicable. As we
note infra, deference is not synonymous with automatic approval. In Retail
Store Employees Union Local 782 v. Sav-On Groceries, 508 F.2d 500 (10th
Cir.1975), to which the drivers also cite, the court did not at all address the
deference due an arbitrator

At oral argument, Ryder hinted that the Joint Committee is not an ordinary
arbitrator and may have some powers under the Master Agreement to go
beyond the parties' submissions to resolve disputes, but did not develop this
potential argument, and there is no evidence in the record to support it

In addition, it could be that, because the toll schedule was inextricably linked to
other aspects of the compensation scheme, any resolution of a dispute over the
toll schedule must include some tinkering with the gross revenue percentages,
ancillary charges, and the like. However, there is simply no evidence in the
record to support such an argument. At all events, we could not uphold only
those provisions in the Joint Committee decision that concern the toll schedule.
Clearly, the decision was a compromise; to uphold only one part of that
compromise would be like unscrambling an egg.
8

The documents and statements include the Matteson grievance, the class action
grievance, minutes from the first hearing before the Joint Committee, and the
Coughlin letter that followed the first hearing